Arts
Juanita Hamblin
Retailer
Arts. Business. Culture.
‘Elements of the East’ is the first complete Fengshui and Oriental Art retailer of its kind in the West Midlands. It owner, Junita Hamblin, studied and researched ancient Chinese art and fengshui for 11 years before setting up the business.
It was awarded ‘Retailer of the year 2003’, to recognise achievement in bringing interest and understanding of Chinese culture to the British public, and bringing different communities together.
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Qu Lei Lei
Artist and CalligrapherArts.
Artist and calligrapher Qu Lei Lei as born in Heilongjiang in 1951 and arrived in London at the age of thirty four to study painting and drawing at the Central School of Art and Design. In 1979 he was a founding member of the Stars Art Movement, the influential group of Chinese artists who fought for greater freedom of expression within the arts after the Cultural Revolution. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Qu Lei Lei worked for CCTV. He has become well-known as a tutor/lecturer in Chinese art, calligraphy and taiqi and is currently the Honorary President of the Chinese Brush Painters Society.
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David Tse Ka-Shing
Artistic DirectorArts. Culture. Education. Entertainment. Film, TV & Radio. Theatre.
David read Law at Southampton University (1983-86) before training at Rose Bruford College (1986-89) as an actor. In 1996, he was the first British Chinese to receive an Arts Council bursary to train as a director at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre. He has worked extensively as an actor and writer, and became Artistic Director of Yellow Earth Theatre in 1995 where he has directed for twelve years.
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Kwong Loke
ActorArts. Culture. Theatre.
It was a hot, sultry day; the 9th day of the Ninth Moon - the Festival of the Ninth God, incense smoke mingled with roasted meat, temple prayers with the deep resonance of brass gongs; I was five or six, my hand in my grandmother's. The sound of 'cheng, cheng, cheng-cheng' beating out from the stage orchestra; the beautifully painted faces with their glinting costume, high head-dress shimmering with red and gold ; singing that sounded like nothing I had heard before; these other-worldly creatures floating around on that raised area; my eyes transfixed, my fascination transported me into their world of colour, sounds and story from another time and another place - "What is going on?"
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Veronica Needa
ActressArts. Culture. Education. Theatre.
Veronica Needa was born and grew up in Hong Kong of Eurasian parents (England, Hong Kong, Japan, and Syria) and is bilingual - English/Cantonese. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (1983-5) and is a graduate of the School of Playback Theatre (NY, USA). Now based in London, she has wide-ranging experience in the performing arts as performer, producer and teacher, with a particular commitment to community theatre & cross-cultural bridging; and maintains close professional and personal links to Asia.
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Kumiko Mendl
ActressArts. Culture. Education. Entertainment. Film, TV & Radio. Theatre.
Kumiko was born in Watford to a Japanese mother and a Jewish-German father. She trained at the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre school in Paris. Since then she has worked as an actress in theatre, for radio,TV, role-playing and for a traveling circus, as well as a teacher and director. ( She has also been movement director for a number of productions including the award winning Magic Fundoshi where she first met YET's Artistic Director, David Tse.) As one of the founding members of Yellow Earth Theatre, Kumiko has performed in Blue Remembered Hills (dir David Glass), Play to Win (dir David Tse) and co-directed Rashomon. She has been involved in Typhoon as script selector, director and actress.
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